Epic has been known to experiment with items in Fortnite, remove them, then bring them back later with tweaks. And that may be happening with an old item that’s been missing from the game for months.
That would be the bounce pad/jump pad, which previously came in two versions, vertical and directional, one which would bounce you up, and the other which bounced you forward. The item is placed like a trap, and according to Fortnite data miners, @twoepicbuddies, the pad has been found buried in the game and may be set to return shortly.
They claim that the trap can be placed on walls, roofs and the floor, and this new version will boost you if you hit it with a shopping cart.
I’m not quite sure about the tactical significance of the bounce pad which at the time, did seem like it needed more time in the oven. The bounce pad seems like a lesser version of the launch pad, which can be used in more useful ways, or like an impulse grenade. But lately it seems like Epic has been on a bit of a “wacky” streak, introducing items that are more fun than tactical like the shopping cart. Re-releasing the bounce pad to work in tandem with shopping carts seems like something that’s being built to create YouTube highlight videos (SICK CART BOUNCE PAD LAUNCH VICTORY ROYALE!!!). I suppose as it’s in the trap slot, it can also be used as a trap if you could put it on a wall and have some unsuspecting player run into it and bounce themselves off a cliff.
One theory, suggested by my colleague Dave Thier, are that these latest additions are prepping for the upcoming combat-free mess-around mode where players can practice their moves, and perhaps later for a true, Minecraft-ish creative mode where players can do whatever they want without restriction, including making giant shopping cart race tracks full of bounce pads without worrying about getting killed while doing so. I think Epic is realizing that they want Fortnite to be a kind of creation tool rather than just a combat-focused video game. And considering Fortnite is the most popular game since Minecraft, it seems like a pretty good idea to include those sort of elements.
As I am far from a pro Fortnite player, perhaps the reintroduction of the bounce pad will be more of a tactical advantage than I’m envisioning, but this does seem more like a goof-around addition than something that will truly change gameplay like the launchpad or impulse nade.
Usually these leaks tend to pan out, and the item in question is in the game soon enough. That could be this upcoming week or the next, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t see bounce pads back in the game soon enough. And free-build/creative mode not that long after.
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